“Léopold Simoneau, the Canadian lyric tenor who dominated international Mozart performance in the 1950’s, died on Thursday night in Victoria, British Columbia. He was 90 and lived in Victoria.”
Tag: 08.29.06
Plan For Transforming A City: Restore A Theatre
“Arts-minded visitors to the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts may think of Pittsfield as little more than an urban speed bump on the way to Stockbridge, Williamstown and the glories of Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow. But the city is betting that, with the help of a long-neglected jewel of a theater, it too can make a place for itself on the region’s arts map. After a two-year, $22 million restoration, the century-old Colonial Theater will reopen tonight for a year-round season that kicks off with a week’s visit by a touring company of ‘Rent.'”
Islamic Art? It’s Art (Not A Bridge)
“There is today a deliberate reverence and respect about the west’s dealings with Islamic culture. If this new mood increases interest in Islamic art, that can only be a good thing. But despite the fact that we are now much more likely to know Muslims personally, our appreciation of their culture hasn’t gone as far as it might. If we have any interest at all, it is likely to be stuck at the level of museum culture – expressing wonder at beautiful antique objects in an enthusiastic but faintly uncomprehending way.”
John Moran: An Approach To Dance
“To me, a ballet is a larger, more complex structure than a dance. When I hear the word ‘dance,’ I automatically think, not good or bad, but of a consistent type of a cliché of girls really sweating it up in certain types of costumes. My work is constant choreography timed really specifically to a sound-score that I write as if it’s music, even if it’s made up of sound effects. We don’t like to see our performers break a sweat, even though it’s hard. It is dance but it’s dance that’s very deceiving because it completely imitates naturalism.”
FBI Investigating Painter Thomas Kinkade
“Former gallery owners said that after they had invested tens of thousands of dollars each or more, the company’s practices and policies drove them out of business. They alleged they were stuck with unsalable limited-edition prints, forced to open additional stores in saturated markets and undercut by discounters that sold identical artworks at prices they were forbidden to match. Some also have accused Kinkade — touted as the most widely collected living U.S. artist — of scheming to devalue his public company, Media Arts Group Inc., before taking it private two years ago for $32.7 million as Thomas Kinkade Co.”
An Imprint Aimed At Women
Hyperion is planning to start an imprint aimed at women. “Called Voice, the imprint, which will publish its first title in April, is the brainchild of Ellen Archer, Hyperion’s publisher, and Pamela G. Dorman, a 19-year veteran of Viking. It will be just one of a number of new imprints aimed at female readers: Warner Books already has a women’s imprint called 5 Spot and in the fall is starting the Springboard Press, for baby boomers, with a large portion of its titles catering to female readers.”